Iran was testing its long-delayed first nuclear power plant on Wednesday as it pressed ahead with its controversial atomic drive despite international sanctions.

The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation Gholam Reza Aghazdeh said the plant in the Gulf port of Bushehr could come on line within the next few months after Russian announced construction had been completed.

Iran is carrying out comprehensive tests of various equipment at the 1,000-megawatt plant which officials said involve “virtual fuel,” not nuclear fuel rods.

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“The construction stage of the nuclear power plant is over, we are now in the pre-comissioning stage, which is a combination of complex procedures,” the visiting head of the Russian nuclear agency, Sergei Kiriyenko, told reporters.

Iran’s official IRNA news agency had reported on Tuesday that the two countries would announce a date for the plant to go operational during the pre-commissioning ceremony.